


The Witch's Soil Project

by MrRhapsodist



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cottage Lesbians, Cottagecore, Diapers, F/F, Female Friendship, Forests, Magic, POV First Person, Saving a Forest, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29525151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrRhapsodist/pseuds/MrRhapsodist
Summary: Allison's friend Nicole lives by herself in a cottage outside of town. Her friend has an unusual request, but if it works, she might save the forest. And Allison finds another kind of magic waiting for her there...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 14





	The Witch's Soil Project

I’d never seen anything like it. My friend’s house had transformed from the humble cottage I’d first visited years ago. No more thatched roof, no more cobblestone walkway, no classic knocker on the creaking wooden door. Vines had sprouted and consumed the house from bottom-up. Weeds clung to every door and window frame. Violets, both fresh and wilted, formed a loose ring around the house, spreading out all the way to the edge of the clearing. And yet, in spite of it all, through the dense foliage that had consumed the dwelling, orange flames danced in the gaps, revealing a warmth and light that the plant life would have otherwise choked off.

I stood a while in the shadow of the elm trees, not quite sure how to proceed. My backpack weighed me down. In it, all the supplies that my friend Nicole had asked me to bring her. At first, I thought she might have been very sick. Most of the stuff I’d had to get from a few pharmacies before driving twenty miles out of town. Now I wondered if anything would even work considering the state of her house.

Nicole had dabbled in one thing too many. She always had, the poor thing.

As I stood there, trying to decide on my next move, my phone buzzed for attention. Two new texts appeared.

> **_Nicole:_ ** _you made it!!_
> 
> **_Nicole:_ ** _come inside, aly!_

No sooner had I read the message than I heard a strange hiss all around me. Looking up, my jaw dropped in confusion.

Violets and weeds wilted ahead of me in a long curving path. That old cobblestone road revealed itself once more at my feet, all the way to the cottage door, which swung open with a familiar—if not foreboding—creak. Somewhere, birds whistled and took wing, flapping away from the trees around me. I saw branches and vines drop away from a small window by the door. A glimpse of the fireplace within, flickering hot over a pile of logs, and beside it, the shadow of a woman in a cozy armchair, sipping at her tea.

I swallowed. Then, bracing myself, I lifted my chin and walked forward. Flowers rotted all around me, tickling my nose, and I pushed through the thicket of vines as the cottage glowed ahead of me.

Nicole was waiting for me inside. She gave me a smile before jumping out of her chair and wrapping me up in a giant hug. I didn’t return the hug. Everywhere I touched her, I felt little else but skin and bones wrapped in a woolly sweater and trousers. But looking into her face, I saw bright red cheeks and sleepy brown eyes. Her face hadn’t changed since our sophomore year at Berkeley; her body, however, had lost something. Had lost weight, color, strength, and grace. Every step she took seemed to stagger her, and I had to help the poor thing back into her chair.

“Thank you...” Nicole wheezed. Her hand brushed away a strand of hair from her eyes. “Mm. Sorry you had to find me like this. Oh, but where are my manners?” With a chuckle, she pointed toward the nearby kitchen. “Over there, love. I’ve got tea and cookies ready.”

A glance at the stovetop revealed a pristine spot amidst the vegetation that covered and filled her cottage. Two ivory cups of hot white tea, arranged artfully beside a plate of oatmeal cookies that hadn’t been there a moment ago. I didn’t hesitate then to reach out and bring the assortment to a small table next to Nicole’s chair. When I turned around, I wasn’t surprised to find another armchair waiting for me. But I did listen closely for the sound of roots and vines sinking back through the floorboards as the chair settled into place.

This whole house was alive. No other way to put it.

It was alive, and Nicole had made it happen. She’d _birthed_ it. All the labor pains alone in the woods, all the cramps and tears and crying permeated the air of the cottage, breathing new life into these plants and roots in a way that no botanist could dream of doing. I’d seen plenty of new mothers to recognize the symptoms of postpartum trauma in her hollowed shape.

Sitting down, I put my backpack to the side. As I watched Nicole sip at her tea, I saw some light return to her eyes. She smiled in my direction, and for a moment, I saw a shiver run through her. That shiver had an effect across our surroundings. Vines began to collapse from the walls. They crumbled into dust by the time they hit the floor, and I saw their particles scatter through the open window like seeds caught in a breeze. Even the light of the fire became stronger, and I smiled at the sudden heat that banished the chill from my weary bones.

After a quiet moment of tea and munching on cookies, I got up the courage to unzip my backpack. “So, I got what you asked for...”

“Thank you!” Nicole’s eyes lit up. “Allison, you really _are_ the best.”

Blushing, I looked down at the packages I’d stuffed into my bag. One by one, I drew them out onto the scratchy blue rug on the floor. Two bottles of milk of magnesia. One package of baby formula. A box of low-potassium diuretic pills. Assorted candies and other sweets. A bottle of baby powder. A package of cleaning wipes. Two packages of generic-brand adult diapers. And, to top it all off, a pair of pacifiers sitting inside a small case. These ones weren’t generic, though. The Hello Kitty designs on them were cute, I had to admit.

Rubbing her hands together, Nicole looked over my purchases. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Simply wonderful. Allison, you’re the best.”

“Okay, but... what is it for?”

“Can’t you tell?”

I blinked. Then I blinked again. “Nicole... sweetie. I’m sitting in a house overflowing with plants and magic. You tell _me_ how this works. Remember?”

Nicole’s brow creased. I hated seeing those lines, but then her face softened and she rubbed a hand along her cheek. Even now, her hands seemed stronger than they had a moment ago.

“Yes, of course, of _course,_ ” she said to herself. Then, smiling toward me, she added, “I am sorry, love. I forget after each spell. When you put so much of yourself into the higher realms, and you try to coax all of _this..._ ” She gestured to the vines and flowers drooping from the cupboards and window sills. “I have to remember what it means to be Nicole again. I have to remember what she...” She stopped, and then sighed. “No, no, what _I_ wanted from you.”

I nodded. In the pause that followed, I took another bite of cookies and sipped at the rest of my tea. It had grown cold, but I still liked the flavor.

Meanwhile, Nicole got up from her chair. Her body had changed again. She wasn’t so weak or thin as before. Her old hourglass shape had returned, and her chest generously filled out her sweater. I marveled at the gentle motion she made in examining every package I’d brought. Her eyes danced over every label, absorbing every detail.

“There’s a spell,” she explained in a quiet voice. “Thaumaturgy like this, breathing life back into this part of the world... it’s a lot of sacrifice, my dear. A _lot_ of work. Can’t make something without breaking something. That’s how nature works. Old things die, they break down, rejoin the soil, and they feed new life. For weeks now, I’ve been rebuilding this edge of the woods with nothing but my own self. Night after night, pushing my fingers into the realm of Yetzirah, to the sphere above the material world. Draining myself to pull a bit of holy light into all of this.”

I frowned. “You could die if you’re not careful.”

“I know.” Nicole smiled. Her eyes drifted toward my face. “I won’t die if you’re around, though.”

“I’m here for you, Nicole. I hope you know that.”

“I do. That’s why I need your help with this next spell. So that I don’t have to push my limits. This way, things will be more...” She paused, searching for the word. “More natural, I think.”

“Tell me what you need.”

“Go to the cupboard under the sink. There’s a pail I use for this kind of work.”

Underneath the kitchen sink, I found something that _could_ have been a pail. It was old, rusted on the bottom and damp to the touch. As I hauled it out to the floor, Nicole knelt down on the rug. Her fingers moved deftly, snatching up bottles and ripping open packages. The trash ended up in a pile on the armchair behind her. Once she had the pail in front of her, her eyes flashed green. Brighter than usual, in fact.

“ _Ascoltami, maestro,_ ” Nicole whispered. One by one, she poured the contents of each bottle into the pail. Sprinkled powders, crushed pills, scattered bits of candy until they plinked at the bottom. Her voice was low and melodious, somehow filling the entire cottage. “ _Vieni, maestro. Ti preghiamo di toccare questa terra! Ti offriamo la giovinezza del nostro corpo! Ascolta la nostra preghiera, ascoltala...!_ ”

As she spoke, green light swirled in her eyes and within the pail. I knelt beside Nicole, too nervous to peer into the brew. And yet, I couldn’t look away from the emerald cloud that shimmered from inside the pot. Liquid and oil churned, and a shimmering smoke overtook us both. Nicole’s hand reached out for mine, and I grasped her fingers. I grasped hard, and I had to whisper an apology, but I doubt she even heard me. Already, the smoke that filled the room had become too green, too dense for either of us to hear or talk.

Some time later, Nicole’s chanting had stopped. The smoke cleared. I found her seated on the armchair once again. She had grabbed a diaper from one of the two packages and unfolded it in her lap. Meanwhile, the pail beside me had filled up to the brim and settled with a viscous teal concoction. Bubbles occasionally popped from within, but otherwise the mix had settled down.

“What _is_ this?” I asked. My fingers crept toward the pail, but I didn’t dare touch it.

“Sorcery,” Nicole answered. Her voice remained steady and clear. She smiled down at me. “A bit of mixture of all the things I’ll need to make this spell work.”

“And what happens if it does work?” I eyed Nicole. And then I cast a frown at the crinkling diaper on her lap. “And where exactly does _that_ fit in?”

“It’s for protection.” Nicole sighed. She set the open diaper aside on the floor. Slowly, she got back down onto the floor and gripped the sides of the pail. She stared for a long time into its depths. I couldn’t see at all what she found there except a murky green soup.

“This forest has been fighting off a curse for a long time,” she said in a hush. “Something bad happened here years ago. I don’t know what. Maybe it was a murder or a battle, or the spirits didn’t like the creep of civilization. Whatever the case, I’ve been trying to break the curse. I need power for that. But I didn’t have much to offer it before now. I tried to give up my need for food and drink for a time, but that only does so much. Tried to stop it by giving up sleep, but if I do that...” Nicole shook her head. “I might keep it up until I die. I need to give up something automatic. Give up a bodily function, and then the aura from that action might restore the woods on its own, you see?”

Rubbing at my head, I said, “I _think_ so...”

“You’ve done well, sweetie. And, if I’m being honest, I might not need your help after this next part.” Nicole smiled a bit mischievously. “Except for buying more protection, though.”

I blinked. Then I blinked again. “Oh?”

Her eyes darted over to the floor, and I followed her gaze. Over to where the diaper lay on its side. And then I flashed over to the pail, bubbling with enchantments and ingredients like milk of magnesia and diuretics. And then it all came to me.

“Oh, honey.” I wrinkled my nose. “That’s a... a _bold_ move, isn’t it?”

“Small price to pay for the life I’ve chosen out here.” Nicole giggled. “And, hey, if it helps the folks in town, then I don’t mind being the smelly witch in the woods.”

“Yeah, but...”

“Aly.” Nicole’s eyes softened. “Come on, love. I won’t do anything to deprive you, and I won’t take anything from the town. They’re my neighbors, too. But if I can give of myself, if I can change something here? It’s worth it.” She paused, and her hands reached out for mine. “It _has_ to be.”

I hesitated. As our hands met, I tried for a smile and glanced shyly at her. “You know this is the second craziest thing you’ve ever done?”

“What was the first?”

“Buying that occult book from the shop on Larsen Street.”

“Yeah, but it was an amazing discount!”

We laughed, and I squeezed her hands. Something deep passed between us in silence. I didn’t resist as she let go. Without even thinking about it, I grabbed the pail by its handle and hauled it off the floor. It was heavy, so I walked slowly with it. Meanwhile, Nicole had scooped up the diaper and tucked it under one arm. She nodded and guided me with her other arm toward the bathroom in the back of the cottage.

Inside, to my surprise, the bathroom was almost entirely plant-free. No vines, no roots, no soil or earthy stench. The only addition was a pot of forget-me-nots sitting on top of the toilet. Then I realized that, once this spell had gone through, Nicole would no longer have any need for it. Another modern convenience she’d sacrificed along with her car and her computer. With this miracle achieved, she’d only have a wood burning stove and her phone left for her technology. I took a moment to catch my breath and sat down on the toilet seat. Taking the pail from me, Nicole set it down beside the bathtub. She began to turn on the hot water, filling up the tub as wisps of steam rose up to the ceiling.

Then, with a grin, Nicole began to remove her clothes.

I blushed and tried to look away, but that only made her laugh. She didn’t have any shame about stepping out of her trousers and panties, or letting her breasts swing free. I could only watch as her clothes fell into another tidy pile on the floor beside the tub. Then Nicole took the diaper and put it in the sink.

She cast a teasing eye at me over her shoulder. “Ready, love?”

I nodded mutely.

As soon as the tub had filled up, Nicole stepped into the water. She sank down onto her bottom, head reclining until it rested on the bathroom wall tile. I moved to turn off the water, and I watched her body writhe under the ripples.

“Okay,” said Nicole. Her eyes flashed green once more. “Now, this part’s a bit gross.”

“Oh, only this part?”

“You know what I mean.” She nodded at the pail. “I want you to pour _that_ in here.”

I took the pail by its handle. “Er, all of it?”

“Yep. All of it.”

I shuddered, but I couldn’t argue. Not when I saw the eerie light in Nicole’s eyes and the placid smile on her face. So I held my nose and poured the green slop right into the bathtub. It oozed across the surface, and bits of it sank down to rest on Nicole’s body. She sighed, and her eyes drifted shut. I had no idea how anyone could be so content with this horrible bath.

As soon as I shook the last of the gunk out, I set down the pail. My breath went shallow, and I leaned my elbows on the side of the tub.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now, we wait. We channel the light, and we make the trade.” Nicole spoke so softly, her eyes still shut. “Just sit here and wait with me, okay? I won’t be long.”

I couldn’t do anything else. Minutes passed. I kept checking the clock on my phone, but after a while, I turned it off and put it away. Nicole could have sent me away. She could’ve even sent me back to town, and I’d never hear from her again for another month. But I sat by the tub, and I didn’t dare move. I saw the peace on her face and the glow on her skin. I knew this was big. This was important. So what if it meant a lifetime of diapers and no control left? She’d already held the forest against whatever the local developers could do to it. All their bulldozers and chain-link fences couldn’t break the magic she’d woven into the sky and the soil.

Time passed, and I nodded off at one point. When I jolted awake again, it was to the sound of bubbling water. I looked at Nicole, and her eyes were open.

The green sludge in the tub had softened and dissipated into a thin gel that coated her entire body from the neck down. It bubbled and oozed over her pores. At some point while I’d been asleep, Nicole had reached over and unplugged the drain. All the water was gone, and both she and the tub were stained a dark forest green.

“Grab a towel, please,” Nicole whispered. “In fact, grab all the towels you can get.”

My calves were aching, but I got to my feet and stumbled into the hallway. Over to the linen closet, where I found five or six towels. I threw them into the bathroom one by one, and when I finally came in, I soon found Nicole had scrubbed most of the gunk off. She left the towels, now horribly stained, in a soggy mound inside the tub.

Looking up at me, Nicole smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean it up tomorrow.”

I nodded. Then she picked up the diaper from the sink and began to put it on herself. I stood there in the doorway, trying to give her some space, but not ready to leave. It was easier to turn my head than to watch my friend, stark naked and wet, wrestle a giant diaper onto her bottom with a deafening rustle.

When I turned around, I saw Nicole slip on her bra and shirt from before. She’d gotten the diaper on, but I noticed that she’d made a mess of the tapes. There were green fingerprints all over the front, and she’d gotten one tape stuck on top of another.

“Um,” I managed to say, clearing my throat.

“Hmm?” Nicole looked up as she tugged her shirt on. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I just, um...?” I pointed down at her legs. “Can I help you with that?”

She looked down, and then she giggled. “Oh. Um, sure! I don’t really know what I’m doing there, do I?”

“It’s fine.” I hastily stepped over. Nicole waited, but I couldn’t look her in the eye.

Before I could hesitate any longer, I had Nicole lean back into the bathroom wall. Holding the diaper in place, I managed to fix the tapes so that they lined up in parallel. It was a bit odd doing this on a grown woman, but in theory, it wasn’t so different from my days of babysitting the neighbors’ kids. When I was done, I stepped back, and Nicole wiggled in place. She ran one hand along the back of her new diaper, and she gave it a pat.

“Nice job,” she said. Then, grabbing her trousers, she got them on as well. They just managed to fit over her diaper, so long as she didn’t button up at the waist.

Leading me back into her den, Nicole sat me down in one of the chairs. I warmed up beside the fire, ready to fall asleep again, as my host went around and tidied up. Some of her enchantments did the work for her, like dumping bits of trash and plastic into a waste bin by the kitchen. Other things Nicole did by hand, like putting her green-soaked towels in the laundry and fixing up our dinner. I hadn’t planned on staying, but after all I’d seen and done that day, I couldn’t say no to the offer.

An hour later, after I had my nap and Nicole had served up a nice stew, we curled up together in one of the chairs under a blanket. I’d pulled up a few shows on my phone, still marveling at the reception we got this far out. We watched our favorite comedienne wrestle with her love life and go on funny adventures with her friends, and we chatted idly about our years in college. All of that seemed like a lifetime ago. I couldn’t quite picture the old Nicole, with her designer jeans and her love of Beverly Hills culture, meeting up with this rugged self-taught witch in the woods. But I knew I loved this Nicole better than I did the old one. I’d have never done what I did in the bathtub for the fashion-obsessed girl I’d known.

Our shows had finished late into the night, around the time that the fireplace had gone out. I got up and stretched. A yawn stifled behind my lips. When I looked back, I saw Nicole squirm in her seat. She puckered her lips as she felt around her hips.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Mm.” Nicole shook her head. “Well, the spell’s definitely working. I’m wetting my pants like crazy.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. This will take some getting used to.”

“Are you all right?”

“Hmm.” Nicole squirmed a little more. “I... I think I’m done?” She paused, and then sighed. “Whew, okay. _Now_ I’m done.”

“Aww, sweetie.” I held out my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“What, really?” Nicole stared, her face unreadable in the room’s heavy shadows.

“Sure. I mean...” I shrugged. “Look, if I’m sharing a bed with you tonight, I’d rather you didn’t leak. And, well...” I had to laugh a little. “Well, we both know you can’t do your tapes right.”

With a chuckle, Nicole bumped into my shoulder. She wrapped me up in another hug, and I gave it back just as fiercely. In the dark, we fumbled around until we found wipes, baby powder, and an open package of diapers. With all that gathered in our arms, we headed down the hall to the bedroom, where a familiar unmade bed stood. I nearly tripped over a few roots that Nicole had let grow around the edges of the room. Except for them, and for the smell of wild blueberries growing outside her open window, Nicole’s room seemed normal compared to the rest of her overgrown cottage.

Lighting a candle with some matches, I put down our supplies. Nicole hopped onto the bed. She yanked down her pants and kicked off her socks. Her head hit the pillow, and she giggled.

I went to work right away, cleaning up in between her legs and tossing the old diaper in a waste bin that, thankfully, had a sealed lid. Nicole shivered as I put on a little powder, but then came the fresh diaper, and within seconds, she was snug and content once more.

Getting up, she told me to lay down on the bed and then wandered across the room. I watched my friend close the window, open her closet, and remove a pair of nightgowns. Grateful for the candlelight, I managed to undress and leave my clothes in a neat pile beside the bed, but still far away from those creeping roots. Nicole and I donned our nightgowns, and while mine had ample room for my chest, I was still plenty warm as I climbed into bed.

Nicole settled down beside me. Pulling the giant comforter over us, she snuggled up close. I nestled against her shoulder. She leaned away just long enough to blow out the candle on the nightstand.

As the darkness settled again, I turned and looked outside the window. Moonlight fell in a bare shaft across the tiny room. Our bodies huddled close around the bed sheets and quilt, we looked like a giant beast with two heads in the delicate glow. Nicole reached for my hand, and I remembered the way she’d comforted me when my mom died a week before our graduation. I remembered the trips we used to make to the beach, the retail job that she quit after two weeks, and the ex-boyfriend who’d tried to sue her over buying a cottage on the same parcel of land he’d wanted to develop.

“Hey.” Nicole’s voice came in low against my ear. “Look out there, love. It’s working.”

Turning around, I saw through the window leaves sprouted on once-barren trees. Not all at once, but minute by minute. A time-lapse video, except that this was _real._ I felt it in the air outside the cottage. I heard birds singing in the night, and I could almost hear the earth growing around us. Something in the soil had changed, and for whatever reason, it had happened because of Nicole. Her weird arts, her chanting, her potions and bodily offerings—they all meant something out here, in this tiny corner of the world.

And whatever it took, I’d be there beside her.

My hand wrapped tight around hers in bed. She snuggled against me, and I kissed her brow. We fell asleep at last, with my hands resting on her padded rear, and her cheek pressed against mine.

I tasted blueberries in my dreams, and I saw us walking together along a path that bloomed with bluejackets and wild crocus, happy and free under the shade of majestic elms. Far ahead, the town we’d called home gleamed in the distance, but we were in no hurry to get there.


End file.
